


Denouement

by IrinyaClockworker



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I just really wanted this to be a thing so, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 12:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17581316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrinyaClockworker/pseuds/IrinyaClockworker
Summary: The end of the story and the fall of the false god, as shown through the eyes of the one who couldn't be there.Or, what might have been, if things had gone a bit differently.





	Denouement

So, this is it. 

It feels like he’s been waiting forever for this day. How long has it been? January 28th, 2010… so it’s been a little over six years since it all started, and a little more than five since L’s death.

Thinking about that day, the day he found out that the invincible great detective wasn’t so invincible after all, still hurts. But after today, it won’t matter. After today, his murder will be avenged.

Near’s sitting on the floor, puppets scattered in front of him and a frankly hideous mask covering his face. His own is shadowed by the hood of his coat, and much of it is also hidden by a large pair of dark glasses--something he’s grown used to wearing, since the explosion that left his face so visibly marred. With them stand Near’s three remaining agents, and Kanzo Mogi. Matt has been left behind; he’s not needed for this, and after the close call with Takada’s bodyguards, Mello has no desire to put his friend in any unnecessary danger.

He’s done enough.

The Japanese task force enters the room a little bit after the designated time… only a few minutes, but he can practically feel Near’s displeasure radiating off of him, and can’t help but smile a bit. What a way to start things off.

The new arrivals over the group, taking in the four familiar faces, pausing at the hooded figure--he can see Yagami’s eyes furrowing slightly, as if trying to figure out who this person is, and then he moves on to look at Near, and simply _stares._ He can’t exactly blame the other man for that. The mask is quite disturbing, and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t feel a bit like an affront. But it’s Near’s way, and he’s trying to learn to respect that. After all, though he hates to admit it, it’s only thanks to Near that he’s alive.

“L…” Aizawa starts, “Those four are the SPK… and the one with the mask is Near, I’m sure of it. But…” He looks at Mello helplessly. Good. He’s not sure. Let him be surprised later--let them all be surprised. It’ll be more fun that way.

“Yes,” Mogi adds. “I was with Near even before he put the mask on, so I assure you, it’s him.”

“Aizawa… Mogi, whether this is the real Near or not is of no interest to me,” Yagami responds coolly. “However--”

“He is a colleague of mine,” Near interrupts, his voice outwardly flat as usual. Though, for one used to his manner of speech… it almost seems like there’s a hint of warmth there. “Trust him as you would trust me.”

“Wait a minute,” Matsuda interrupts, and Mello can’t help but roll his eyes. _Of course._ “I don’t care who he accuses of being Kira--but that mask proves that he’s trying to protect only himself!” 

“Matsuda, Near thinks I’m Kira, so it can’t be helped.” He’s almost grateful for Yagami’s words--standing around is getting to him, and arguing over the mask will just draw things out. He’s eager to get going, to end things once and for all. He doesn’t want to wait any longer.

It’s already been far too long, as it is.

“But he was talking so much about seeing you face to face. It doesn’t seem fair!” He wants to speak at that, but he’s supposed to just keep silent for now. That’s part of the plan. More will come later.

“I’m telling you, Near has his own ideas about what’s going on here, so it’s not going to help if we complain about it. Let’s just get on with this.” _That’s right. Let’s just get it over with._ He seems so confident, and Mello knows exactly why--but he also knows something that Yagami doesn’t. He knows who’s going to win today, and it’s not Kira.

“This mask… is just insurance.”

“Insurance?” Matsuda has a baffled look on his face, and Mello can’t help but be amused. Is this really what it’s like for normal people?

“I am confident that both Kira and the person being ordered to do the killings--X-Kira--do not know my face,” Near explains. “But there’s a possibility that everybody else’s face is known to these individuals in question. Of course, this is all assuming that L is Kira… so, since the place and time for our meeting was decided upon three days ago…” He pokes at the puppets in front of him, knocking over all but three--a small orange-clad one representing Kira, a miniature representation of himself, and a tiny figure in a red hood. “There is a chance that everyone else’s name, excluding mine and my colleague’s, may already be written down in the notebook, to be killed.”

There’s a moment of silence, and he looks at the task force--they’re sweating, clearly nervous at this thought. Only Yagami still looks calm and composed. Yes, he’s so certain of his plan… which will just make it that much better when it starts to crumble.

“If that were to happen, only Kira, my associate, and I would be left, and all Kira would have to do is write our names in the notebook that Mr. Aizawa has with him right now. Though it’s my hypothesis that the Kira here does not have the ability to kill just from looking at our faces. So please, give me an hour--no, thirty minutes--to be sure that no one here is already marked to die by the notebook.”

“Wh-What, so you’re waiting to see if we die?!” Matsuda exclaims, his voice pitching higher. He’s obviously afraid, and Mello supposes he can’t blame the man. He’d done a fair amount of research into heart attacks after L’s death, desperate to know what his last moments had been like, and what he’d found… well, they sounded unpleasant, to put it mildly. He wouldn’t want to suffer one either, and he’d only narrowly escaped it himself.

“That’s okay,” Yagami interrupts, closing his eyes as if resigning himself. “We’ll let Near do as he likes. If not, we won’t be able to clear things up.” There’s a faintly patronizing sound to his words, as if he’s indulging the whims of a child. He really does look and sound like he has everything under control… but then, he believes that he does, doesn’t he? “Near, I believe that you are, in fact, the real Near, and I don’t care about the face behind the mask. What I’d like to see is what you were going to show me pertaining to the Kira case.”

“That can only be revealed to you after I take my mask off.”

“You can’t show the evidence to us unless you take the mask off, but you’re not going to take it off? Aren’t you contradicting yourself?” Matsuda shouts, and Mello can’t suppress a small sigh. It’s not _that_ difficult, is it?

“He means that he’s going to take it off once he makes sure that everybody stays alive,” Yagami says with a hint of impatience in his own voice.

“Yes,” Near confirms flatly, and silence falls over the warehouse.

He passes the time by thinking of L, and what the detective would think if he were here with them. Would he be excited? Almost certainly, considering how close they are to the end. Would he be proud? They’ve come so far, done so much. Mello’s given up almost everything for this, and he’s finally, finally about to reach the goal. He’s about to win. This is what will make everything worth it.

Thirty minutes passes far more quickly than he’d expected, and he’s almost surprised by Matsuda’s indignant statement. “Near, it’s been more than thirty minutes now, and nothing’s happened.”

“Of course,” Yagami replies with that same irritating self-assurance. “That’s because Kira isn’t here.” He can’t wait to see that look of composure crumble.

“Very well... It seems that you are all safe. I’ll go ahead and take the mask off, then.” Even as he speaks, he’s reaching up, sliding the mask over his head, and Mello can’t help but tense slightly--it’s still a risk, even though he’s absolutely positive that their plan is a good one. Every piece has been laid except one. There’s no way they can make an error now.

He and Yagami look at each other, and though Mello is behind him, he can perfectly picture the tiny smile that must curve Near’s face.

“Okay, so now that you’ve taken the mask off, what are you going to show us?” Matsuda exclaims, and a man behind him--it takes Mello a moment to recall the name, but it’s Ide, isn’t it?--sighs.

“Matsuda, don’t rush him.”

“Why not?! And what about him?” Matsuda gestures in Mello’s direction. “He still hasn’t showed us his face!”

“That was never part of the agreement,” Near replies. “I said only that I wanted to meet the second L face to face. I never said a word about anyone else. You have exactly what you agreed to. As for your first request… I’m sorry. But you’re going to have to wait again.”

“Wait again?! What are we waiting for?”

“For the one who’ll solve everything to arrive.”

“The one who’ll solve everything?” Ide repeats. 

“I assure you that this person will come, so we must wait,” Near continues. “This building is completely sealed. The only way to look inside is to open that door right there. Therefore, this very important person will come through that door, or at least try to peek through it.”

“Who’s going to come…? This meeting was kept secret from everybody except those here right now.”

“That’s right.” Near holds up a finger with a tiny puppet of Teru Mikami on it. It’s grotesque, as most of his works are, but it gets the point across. “So the person coming is X-Kira, Kira’s loyal follower, who learned about our location from none other than Kira himself.” He pauses, letting the others take his words in, and then continues. “Mr. Aizawa. You kept an eye on L even after Takada died, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then X-Kira will come.” He’s lifting three fingers now--one puppet for Kira, one for Mikami, and one for Takada. “Kira used Takada to contact X-Kira. The night we decided where and when to meet, L met Takada, and Takada relayed the information to X-Kira. I am completely sure of this.” He lowers one finger, and the Takada puppet with it. “But Mello’s kidnapping of Takada was a surprise for both L and myself. With Takada dead, L could no longer contact X-Kira, and was unable to call his plan off. Hmm...” He pauses, reconsiders, then adjusts. “No, it would be meaningless for him to call everything off. The thought would have never crossed his mind, because he didn’t want to interfere with his plan or mine.”

“Why do you assume that L is Kira?” Matsuda snaps, and Mello sighs again, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. _Isn’t it obvious? But if you wouldn’t listen to L…_

“Yeah, if a third party is really going to show up here, isn’t it more likely that you’re the one behind it all?”

“No,” Near explains, much more patiently than Mello would have, “because the person we’re waiting for is the person currently in charge of carrying out Kira’s judgements. So, obviously, this person is coming under Kira’s orders.”

“Hey, wait a minute.” It’s Matsuda again. “If this person is the one doing the killings, do you mean to say they’re going to bring the notebook?”

“Yes, this person will bring the notebook for sure.” He’s still acting it all out with his puppets as he speaks. “And then, after looking at my face, will write down my name.”

“So you’re going to prove that this person is Kira’s henchman by being killed?!”

“No, rather by having him try to kill me.” He glances over at Lidner, and notices her looking back at him--she nods slightly as if in acknowledgement, and he looks away. Yes, it came far too close to ending in Near’s death. But he was able to change things. Thanks to that…

“Wait a minute, Near,” Aizawa says sharply.

“Yes?”

“If X-Kira is going to kill you, then he or she would need to kill everybody here, since we all know about the notebook.”

“That’s right. It would be the perfect victory for Kira, not to mention the sole reason Kira agreed to this meeting in the first place.”

“I… I don’t get it,” Matsuda stammers. “What are you talking about? That third party is going to bring the notebook here to kill us?”

“And you’re asking us to just stand here and watch?” Ide snaps, seeming equally shaken. Not a single one of them seems to have understood. Typical.

“That’s right.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Ide shouts. “You’ll be playing right into Kira’s hands. We’re going to lose no matter what we do.”

“No.” He knocks over the Kira puppet, leaving his and the small red one as the only ones standing. “We will win. If you do as I say, we will win without a doubt.”

Mello can’t help but smile at that. _'Without a doubt'… Awfully confident of you, but you’re right, now._

“So, if X-Kira enters through that door, I want you all to let him in… and if that door opens, however slightly, I want you all to pretend not to notice it.”

“Th-This is ridiculous…” Matsuda says softly.

“Near… you’re making it sound like _you’re_ actually Kira…” Aizawa looks shaken, but his voice is still remarkably calm. “You’re the one who proposed the idea that we all meet here, and now, you’re asking everybody to have their names written down in the notebook… it’s only natural for us to think that… But…” He pauses, and sighs. “I’ll do as you say.” Matsuda’s eyes widen, and as usual, he’s quick to speak.

“H-Hey, Aizawa, what do you mean? I don’t get it.”

There’s a tiny, almost imperceptible creaking sound, but they don’t seem to notice.

“I’m with Aizawa,” Mogi says shortly, and Ide in his turn looks baffled.

“Mogi…”

“He’s already here,” Near interrupts, and Matsuda’s eyes go worryingly wide.

“What?”

There’s a tension in the room even worse than the one that was already present--it seems like everyone is simply waiting to feel the grip of death. Even the SPK looks shaken, and Lidner has her eyes closed tightly. 

There’s silence for a long moment, and then Matsuda makes a move. He pulls out a gun-- _Aren’t you supposed to be off duty?_ \--and shouts. “I-I can’t just watch! If someone really is writing down our names, then--”

But there’s two other weapons pointed at him in a moment, Rester ordering him not to move and Gevanni, silent, yet clearly ready to shoot if necessary.

 _Don’t spoil the plan, you idiot,_ Mello seethes, but still keeps silent. The longer this goes on, the harder it is to keep from revealing himself, but it’ll be that much better if he can manage to wait.

“Are-Are you kidding me?”

“Don’t worry,” Near admonishes. “You won’t die. Please, stay still.” Matsuda looks reluctant, and he repeats, “Don’t worry. Even if our names are written down, we won’t die, and Kira’s identity will be revealed.”

“H-How can you be so sure that we won’t die, Near?” Even Aizawa’s voice is faltering now… they’re really frightened, aren’t they? Maybe it’s his confidence in the plan, maybe it’s that he’s already come so close to this fate, or maybe it’s just some other part of his mind that doesn’t work quite the way it should, but he isn’t really afraid. 

“I’ve tampered with the notebook,” Near replies, lifting a miniature replica between finger and thumb. “We managed to get it into our possession, and replace the pages. The person behind the door… the one in charge of the actual killing has been filling up one page every day, so I just calculated which page would correspond with today’s date, and replaced all the subsequent pages.” How fitting that Mikami’s habitual nature would be what allows this… Near is a creature of habit himself, so it’s only natural. 

The task force isn’t quite so calm.

“Replaced?!”

“You got hold of it? You actually did that?”

“The person writing names down outside will eventually look inside to see if we’ve all died,” Near continues calmly, still idly playing with the tiny notebook. “At which point we’ll seize him, and the individual whose name is not written down in the notebook will inevitably be Kira.”

It’s so simple, really. 

“Y-You’re right.” Aizawa sounds almost relieved. “The person whose name isn’t written down would be Kira!”

Yagami doesn’t say a word.

There’s another few moments of silence, during which Mello can feel his own anticipation building, before finally, _finally,_ Yagami turns towards the door.

“The one outside… did you write the names down in the notebook?” It sounds like a simple question, but they both know it’s nothing like that. _Did you secure my victory?_

“Yes, I did.” The voice comes through the door, and Matsuda makes a strangled sound of fear. There’s a look on Yagami’s face that’s just on the edge of a smile, like he’s trying to hold back, and Mello can’t help but wonder how on _earth_ anyone could think this man _isn’t_ Kira.

“That’s strange,” Near remarks. “Why would he reply in earnest, ‘Yes, I did,’ when you asked him if he wrote the names down?”

“Who knows? Maybe he’s honest, or is confident for some reason? It may even be that he knows your plan.”

“Huh? Then that means we’re all doomed.” Matsuda is quite fixed on that idea, it seems. Mello folds his arms as he listens.

“Teru Mikami,” Near continues, “why don’t you come in here?” There’s another moment of silence, and then he keeps going. “Teru Mikami,” he repeats, “I know that you’re in charge of carrying out Kira’s killings right now. You’ve already written the names down, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. Please come in. Or did Kira order you not to come in?”

“...Teru Mikami?” Yagami’s voice is smooth as always. “That’s right. Stop hiding and come inside.”

At that, the door opens. _Completely obvious. He responds to the man he believes is a god only?_ All of the information he’s gathered on the man makes it evident that he’s very intelligent, but this… this is quite possibly the most pathetic attempt at a farce he’s ever seen. 

And the man himself… the look on his face is manic, his eyes and smile both far too wide. If it weren’t for the fact that he’s quite practiced in making some rather grotesque expressions himself, he might be unsettled by it. 

Mikami’s eyes fix directly onto Yagami, and he breathes, “Your wish is my command, God.” Mello just barely manages to hold back laughter at that, at how _utterly transparent_ this entire thing is, and Near glances back at him, the minute details of his expression telling of his disdain. 

“How many seconds has it been since you wrote the first name down?”

Mikami lifts his wrist, looks at his watch, and counts.

“35…”

There’s a brief pang of fear in Mello’s heart. Five seconds. Only five. What if they _did_ get it wrong? What if they made a mistake, missed something else? What if all the others die here? What if in five seconds the only people left alive are him, Mikami, and Kira?

“36…” 

What if, what if, _what if?!_ All those thoughts are spilling into his mind now, there are too many possibilities, there are _always_ possibilities, things he could have missed.

“37…”

Yagami managed to kill _L_ , after all. L was the best of the best. If he could even kill L, then what chance do they have? The successor and the second-best, they aren’t on his level. They never could be. How arrogant of them, to think otherwise.

“38…”

He wonders if L knew what was happening to him, when he died.

“39…”

He wonders if L was afraid.

“...I win, Near.”

_“40!”_

For a moment, there’s a horrible, choking silence.

Rester, Gevanni, Aizawa, and Mogi are all visibly sweating, their eyes wide and staring. Lidner’s eyes are still closed tightly, and she’s turned her head away as if it will somehow protect her. Ide’s face is contorted in a grimace, and Matsuda’s ducked down and covered his head like a child in a bombing drill. Mikami has a manic grin on his face.

Yagami and Near have their eyes fixed on each other, both smiling confidently.

And Mello simply stands behind the younger detective, his own hooded eyes locked on the face of the man who killed L, and has now tried to kill his successors--on the face of the one who, in front of both the SPK and his own task force, has just revealed himself as Kira.

Slowly, the heaviness in the air lightens--slowly, the people within the warehouse begin to realize that they are all still very much alive.

“We… We’re not dead!” Matsuda is the first to speak, all the while staring down at his hands as if they hold the secret to his survival. “It’s already been about a minute and we’re not dead!”

“I’ve been telling you that nobody would die,” Near replies, and Mello can’t help but smile at the tiny hint of _I told you so_ present in his tone.

As for the ones who _aren’t_ so relieved… Yagami looks stunned, and Mikami’s face is contorted in a hideous manner. “Why?” he cries, his voice pitching high with confusion and some fear of his own. “Why won’t they die?” He looks up frantically, his eyes fixing on the one whose plan he’d trusted so completely. “G-God,” he gasps, “I-I did as you told me.”

Yagami’s started to look worried for the very first time.

“Rester! Gevanni! Get Mikami!” Near orders, and the two well-trained men respond almost immediately--Rester holds Mikami in place, and Gevanni clasps handcuffs onto his wrists, all while Mikami pleads for his ‘god’. Near glances back at Mello, and for a moment, their eyes meet, before Mello steps forward and picks up the fallen notebook.

_Nate River. Anthony Carter. Stephen Loud. Halle Bullook. Kanzo Mogi. Touta Matsuda. Hideki Ide. Shuichi Aizawa._

It’s exactly as they knew it would be, and he smiles.

“See for yourselves,” Near invites. “The first four names are unmistakably the real names of the SPK members. And the only name missing from that list is Light Yagami. Mikami called you ‘God’ and said he did as you told him to.” He pauses, looks back up, stares at Yagami. “This proves it.”

Yagami is actually sweating, and Mello would be lying if he claimed not to be taking a twisted sort of pleasure in watching his little ‘kingdom’ crumble.

“A… A trap! This is a trap!” he finally screams, pointing at Near frantically. “Near set this whole thing up to frame me! It’s impossible that nobody’s dead even after their names are written in the notebook. That proves that this is a trap!”

“But I told you that nobody would die, because I replaced the pages,” Near responds with an almost-imperceptible hint of smugness in his tone. So they’re _both_ enjoying this, then…

“W-Well… Y-You... It… It can’t be,” Yagami stammers, his eyes wide in what seems to be real fear. “It’s impossible… This is a setup,” he finally reiterates, and glares at Mikami. “I don’t know this man!”

Mikami makes a strangled, despairing sound, and crumples.

 _None of you actually believe this, right?_ Mello looks at the task force members, and is rewarded by the sight of Aizawa stepping forward, putting a hand on Yagami’s shoulder.

“Light,” he says, his voice soft and almost sad, though steel braces each word. “It’s too late. Near wins. A second ago, you said ‘I win’... That’s as good a confession as any.”

“Light,” Matsuda breathes, sounding truly horrified. “Why…?”

His expression unreadable, Mogi steps forward, and reaches out to put handcuffs on Yagami, as well--but the younger man shouts at him to stop, runs forward, falls--braces himself against the wall, panting, all eyes fixed on him.

“Light Yagami… L… Kira… You lose.” Near’s voice is measured and even. “You claimed your victory a moment ago. And to tell you the truth…” He lifted the tiny notebook replica once again. “You might actually have won… and I might have lost.” Now this, _this_ is going to be the _good_ part. “You had Mikami use a fake notebook, and had him carry it around in front of us so we’d believe that it was the real thing. You even went so far as to suspect that I would replace the pages in the fake notebook, so that I wouldn’t die even if my name was written in it. Things turned out exactly as you had expected, and we replaced the pages in the fake notebook. That was the plan I had in mind as well. I replaced the pages of the notebook that happened to be a fake, and you had Mikami bring the real notebook out for the first time to kill all of us. That was your plan.” He pauses, and smiles, holding up his tiny Mikami puppet, which holds a notebook replica of its own. “But when I said, ‘I replaced the pages in the notebook’, I meant the real one as well. Meaning that I tampered with both the fake _and_ the real notebook. I replaced only a part of the fake notebook, and I replaced the pages of the real notebook completely.” 

He reaches inside his shirt, and pulls out an exact copy of the notebook he already holds. “This is the real notebook.” Laying them both down on the floor and opening them, he smiles again. “Gevanni did it overnight. Whether he was able to replace all of it or not was the key to this plan. He did replace a part of the fake notebook easily, but it was very difficult to forge a copy of the entire real one. But he promised me that it could be done. He used the same pen Mikami used, copied Mikami’s handwriting to perfection, and even made a perfect copy of the cover in addition to the interior pages. Since I had already touched this notebook… I could see the shinigami from the moment you entered this warehouse.” He looks up, and focuses on a point behind the task force--the point where the grotesque, gray-skinned creature has been standing, silent and unresponsive, this entire time. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Shinigami. I’m Near.”

The creature laughs. “Nice to meet you,” it responds, its voice raspy. “I’m Ryuk.”

“Ryuk…” Near almost sounds like he’s marveling. “Until today, I always thought that shinigami had skulls for faces and carried sickles.” _Well, I could have told you otherwise._

“Well, there are ones like that, too.”

“I looked through the notebook and found some pages that were clipped out,” Near continues conversationally. “Can it be that people die even if you write names on pages that have been cut out?” 

“Yeah, they’ll die.”

Yagami looks _terrified,_ now.

“Even pieces are effective… I’m sure there must have been many uses for that. I can’t even begin to imagine how many people were killed and tricked because of it.”

There’s a moment of silence, and then Near looks back up from the notebook, staring directly at Yagami and lifting one finger in accusation.

“Light Yagami,” he says, his voice cold with certainty. “You are Kira.”

Another moment of silence, and then another, stretching out as the wheels turn in Yagami’s mind. He’s wondering how this happened, Mello is certain of that, wondering who could have caused this, almost certainly if Mikami’s betrayed him. Wordlessly, he glances at Near, who looks back and nods almost imperceptibly.

It’s time.

“You’re wrong,” Mello declares, his voice rasping slightly, and everyone looks at him in surprise, as if they’d forgotten the silent figure in the red hood was even there at all. “Mikami never betrayed you. But I promised I would be waiting for Near at the finish line… and what sort of a victory would it be if he never made it to the end?”

“What--what are you talking about? Who are you?!” Yagami shouts, and Mello can’t help but smile.

He reaches up and pushes his hood back, and at the same time Near lifts a tiny puppet with blond hair and a wicked grin. They’re _both_ smiling, now.

“I owe this to Mello,” Near says quietly.

“No. No. Impossible. He’s dead. _You’re dead--”_

“Clearly not, since I’m standing right here.” He scoffs, and smiles again, taking off the sunglasses and exposing his full, scarred face. “QED, Yagami. I’m very much alive. And as for that notebook…”

“Look at the page before the one I just turned to,” Near picks up, an unfamiliar lightness in his voice. “This is the fake notebook we created, but it’s exactly the same as the real one. The first line of the page on the left…”

Mello could recite it by heart, if asked.

_Kiyomi Takada_

_Suicide_

_Burns to death by setting fire to everything around her including what she wrote_

_January 26th_

_2:33 PM_

Yagami looks at Mikami with something akin to rage in his eyes, and Mikami starts stammering in horror. “I-If Takada is in a situation like that, then it’s my job to…”

“See, I figured that notebook couldn’t be real,” Mello interrupts, drawing Yagami’s attention back to him. “Mikami’s supposed to be a genius. Passing that bar exam, getting into the 2 percent, on the first try? Someone like that wouldn’t just show off a killer notebook. There had to be a _point_ to it. But it was only an assumption, of course. I needed something a bit more concrete. I needed to make absolutely certain that we knew what would happen when Mikami wrote those names down today. So I proved it.”

“That’s right. When Mello kidnapped Takada, Mikami took out the real notebook, the one he had hidden in a safe deposit box at the bank, and wrote Takada’s name down.”

“After Takada’s kidnapping was announced on the news, Mikami headed for the bank,” Gevanni continues smoothly. “October 25th was a Sunday, so he went on the 26th, but my research shows that in August, September, November, and December he went to the bank on the 25th.”

“Mikami lives a completely fixed life, but just as Takada was kidnapped, he suddenly went to the bank two days in a row… To be honest, I only thought about the possibility of the notebook being a fake after Gevanni told me about this.”

“You really should have started wondering when Mikami was so open about using it in public,” Mello says with a tiny smirk. “That sort of thing’s way too suspicious, Near. You came awfully close to dying today.”

“Yes… We would have lost if you hadn’t forced his hand,” Near acknowledges with a small nod, and ah, there’s that thrill of accomplishment.

“Once I kidnapped Takada, you couldn’t get in touch with Mikami anymore. But Mikami still did as much as he could… that sort of desperation to be the perfect stand-in worked against him. Always does, really.” _First Beyond, then me, then him…_

“It wasn’t difficult for us to sneak into the safe deposit box room to crack it. It was just an old-fashioned safe at a local bank. And since we looked through Mikami’s bag while he was at the gym, we’d already made copies of all his keys and cards.”

“That’s right,” Gevanni says with a nod. “It was easy to open that safe. And inside of it was a notebook, with Takada’s name written in it.”

“Even an idiot could figure it out from there.” Near smiles, and holds the notebook up again. “This is interesting. In the fake notebook, one page was filled in every day, but in the real one, the dates jump from November 25th to January 26th, when Takada’s name was written down. That means you had Mikami start using the fake notebook two months in advance to trick us. Before January 26th, the time of death wasn’t specified, but afterwards, all the judgements for the 26th were set for the early hours of the 27th, and the judgements for the 27th were set for the early hours of the 28th. In the fake notebook, Takada’s name is probably written down exactly like this, but the rest of the page is only names, with no set time of death. This means that when Takada’s name was written in the real notebook, so were the names of people to be brought to justice on the 26th and 27th. Mikami could have killed people using scraps from the notebook, but if he wrote on them in his house, assuming we had installed a camera, we would have found out about the fake notebook, and the fact that you can kill people using only pieces of it. In order to make the fake notebook look real, you probably gave Takada pieces cut from the real one, and had _her_ do all the killings… all Mikami had to do was send her a list of the people to be killed, and then delete the data. For the deaths on the 26th and 27th, you might have had him send a list of people to Takada after she was kidnapped, but just in case, he wrote them down too along with her name. As for the 28th, today’s killings would be at your leisure, since they’d be after you’d killed us… So, though I wouldn’t have taken notice of it under normal circumstances, there aren’t any killings of new criminals on the 26th or 27th, and that’s because Mikami wasn’t allowed to take the notebook out again until today. Well, according to your plan, Light Yagami… Mikami shouldn’t have taken the notebook out until today at all, no matter what. And although I don’t know who was first, this means that you killed Takada, too. If the scraps of the notebook can be used to kill people, it’s hard to believe that you wouldn’t have had one on you. Since you both wrote her name down at approximately the same time, there wasn’t anything suspicious to indicate that Mikami had made a move of his own… Too bad.” He drops the notebook, and lets it fall open on the floor. “Mikami wrote her name in it, too.”

“Having Mikami write their names in the notebook was the plan, right? But it was Near’s plan, too. You tried to kill them by tricking them into replacing the pages of the fake notebook, but they-- _we_ \--were one step ahead of you.”

“Of course, this is in large part due to Gevanni, who was able to replace the entire notebook in one day. But the most credit goes to the one who created this situation… Mello.”

He can’t resist the chance to take a bow, smiling at the utter impotent rage in Yagami’s eyes. 

“I figured out that the notebook was probably a fake early on, but it was when Lidner told me about what Near was planning that I knew it hadn’t occurred to him. He’s not as good at reading people, it’s by no means his fault--but of course, I couldn’t just let him throw his life away so easily. So I forced Mikami’s hand.”

“If Mello hadn’t made his move,” Lidner whispered, “we would all be…” _Dead. Yes, that’s definitely what would have happened._

“I have to hand it to you, Yagami. It was a good plan, but you didn’t count for one thing--the idea that I might get over myself and actually help Near. That’s not such a bad mistake, in the grand scheme of things. I wouldn’t have expected it either. But in the end…”

“In the end, it was always what should have happened.” Near’s holding up two puppets again, the miniature copies of himself and Mello. “Mello always said he was going to be number one, be better than both me and L… but I always knew I couldn’t be better than L. Maybe it’s that I don’t have the initiative, and he doesn’t have the patience… but even though we couldn’t surpass the one we admired on our own…” He pauses for a moment, and when he continues, his voice is ringing with a triumphant sound that makes Mello lift his head higher and smile with unshakable pride. “Together, we can stand with L. Together, we can _surpass_ L.”

“Together,” he agrees, “we can do what L could not. Together, we can beat you.”

“Together, we are facing the same Kira who L could find no proof against, the same Kira that L was defeated by, facing him with solid evidence!”

“Talk your way out of _this_ situation, Kira. Well? I dare you. Let’s see it.”

There’s a long moment of silence, during which the only thing Mello can hear is his heart pounding and the blood rushing in his veins, and then Yagami _screams._

It’s an almost feral sound, cutting through the air and making most of the people in the room step back as he collapses, and then… 

Then, he laughs.

Long and loud and positively unhinged, the hysterical laughter of an undeniable madman. That is the laugh of Kira as he is defeated.

“That’s right,” he finally whispers. “I am Kira.”

The declaration rings through the warehouse, and Mello smiles once again. There they have it. An undeniable confession from the deluded murderer himself. But Yagami-- _Kira_ \--isn’t done.

“So now… what?” There’s a twisted smile on his face, as if he somehow expects that he really _can_ still talk his way out of this. “Are you going to kill me right here? Listen. I’m Kira. And… I am the god of this new world!” 

Even Mello can’t bring himself to interrupt this. It’s like watching a wreck with horrified fascination, unable to turn one’s eyes away--the sight of this insane man declaring himself a god is disturbing in a captivating way.

“In this world, _I_ am the law, and _I_ am the one maintaining order. That is the truth,” he continues, gesturing grandly. “Now, I am justice, and the world’s only hope. Are you going to kill me?” he challenges. “Is that really the right thing to do? Capturing Kira may have been the just thing to do in the past, but now, it’s obviously evil. The mentality of the world has changed. Are you sure you want to capture Kira, just for your own satisfaction? It’s been six years since Kira appeared. War is a thing of the past, most of the worst criminals are dead, and the entire world’s crime rate has gone down by 70 percent. But… this world is still rotten. There are still rotten people, and we have to get rid of them! Humans have the right to pursue happiness and be happy, but because of a handful of bad people, that’s snuffed out! It’s not an accident. It’s inevitable, as long as people like that are alive! From the moment I got that notebook, no, even before that--the world had fallen as far as it could fall. It all comes down to those who are worthy of living, and those who aren’t…”

Is he ever going to stop talking? It seems less and less likely as he goes on. Still, he’s quite happily incriminating himself… and he can’t deny the morbid curiosity he feels at just how insane Kira will reveal himself to be.

“Evil gives birth to evil, and if evil people sin and run wild, even the weak will learn to commit crimes, and justify their actions. The evil… the rotten people… it has to be done away with. Evil people who are beyond saving have no choice but to die. Justice will be brought upon them, and upon those who harm others. That’s all that has to be done to change people’s way of thinking! They’ll start realizing the right way to live as human beings, to go after your own happiness while respecting the rights of others-- _that_ is how humans should live their lives! Under ordinary circumstances, humans should have continued to evolve as the greatest creatures upon this earth, but we were regressing… Someone had to correct it. From the moment I got the notebook, I knew I had to be the one to do it. No… I was the only one who could! I knew killing people was a crime, but that was the only way to fix this world! I had to take the role of Kira. It was entrusted to _me!_ I was chosen to fix this world! With this notebook… Would anyone else have been able to do this, to come this far, and keep doing it? Would anyone else have been able to take it and use it to lead the world to the right path? There are only weak and stupid people who’d use it for their own selfish interests! I never thought of profiting from this. I’m not like those people! Those are the kind of people that hurt this world! That’s right. I’m the only one who can do it… I’m the only one who can create a new world and guide it correctly. Think about it. You know it as well as I do. There are those in this world who are better off dead.”

With those words, he looks at Mello, as if inviting the others to remember the other criminal’s presence in the room. Mello stares back coldly. _You’re no better than me._

“Do you really want to put an end to Kira here? Will that really help the world? It’s only going to make you happy. Aren’t you being egotistical?” Now, coming from Kira, that’s actually funny. “If you say this is to avenge L’s death… then it’s just an act of folly. What you see before you is Kira… but also the god of this new world--”

“No,” the two detectives say in unison.

“You’re not God, and you’re not justice, either,” Mello spits, no longer able to keep quiet. “You’re insane, and that’s all.”

“You’re a murderer,” Near continues, “and this notebook is the worst murder weapon in the history of mankind. If you’d been normal, and used it once out of curiosity… you’d have been surprised and scared, you would have regretted it, and never used it again. Even those who used the notebook for their own interests, killed a few people and thought themselves normal… but you surrendered to its power and even confused yourself with a god. You’re a crazy mass murderer. Nothing more, and nothing less.”

“You’re wrong,” Kira retorts. “I’m the icon of justice now.”

“Maybe. No one can really tell what’s right and what’s wrong. Even if there is a God, and I had his teachings before me… I’d think it through, and decide if that was right or wrong myself. I’m no different from you. I believe in what I think is right, and think that to be righteous. Mello has his own God’s teachings, but is willing to break them if he thinks it’s necessary. What do the others here think is righteous…?”

There’s another long moment of silence, and then Kira speaks again.

“Near. You thought the fake notebook was the real one, and Mikami had the fake notebook that you made. So both notebooks turned out to be fake, when both sides thought they were real. Neither one tested the notebooks. How can you be sure the notebooks here are real? You already see Ryuk, so let’s say that the notebook you have is real. But how do you know that the one Aizawa has is? I could have switched it. If so, I’m the only one who knows where it is… If you _really_ want to defeat Kira, then you should write my name or Mikami’s name in that notebook to see if it’s real.”

“Light Yagami… Kira… I have no plans of killing you. I don’t even care if the notebook is real or not. All I wanted, from the beginning, was to capture Kira. You’re as good as arrested now, and I’ll confiscate Mr. Aizawa’s notebook. That’ll be good enough. And I won’t announce any of this to the public. I’ll take full responsibility for locking you up somewhere nobody will ever find you. And I’m sure, if all else fails, that Mello could help me with that.”

Mello can’t keep from grinning at that, shark-like and vicious. “Of course.”

“The most important thing right now is to capture you.”

Kira turns away, sighing. “Well, whether it’s real or fake, don’t you think it’s a good idea to take a look at it? If that notebook is real… or fake…” There are tiny clicking sounds, and he’s got his hands raised--

 _“He’s got a piece hidden on him!”_ Mello shouts, and draws his gun--but Matsuda shoots first. He’s definitely not supposed to have a gun, but...

“Matsuda…” Aizawa says in shock. 

“Matsuda, you _idiot!_ ” Kira shrieks. “Who do you think you’re shooting at? If you’re going to shoot someone, shoot the others! What do you think you’re _doing?!_ I thought you were the only one who understood, Kira is righteous! Kira is needed! Shoot! Shoot Mello, shoot Near, shoot the SPK members, Aizawa and the others!”

“What was it all for?” Matsuda gasps, tears streaming down his face. “The chie--no, Deputy Director… Deputy Director Yagami… he was your father… what did your father die for?!”

“...Dad? Are you talking about Soichiro Yagami?” Kira growls, panting. “That’s right, Matsuda. Overly earnest people with a strong sense of justice like him always end up the loser. Do you want a world where people like him are always made fools of, by people like _that?"_ He tries to gesture in Mello’s direction, gasping. “Shoot him… shoot them all, Matsuda. If they’re working with the man who killed the Deputy Director… they can’t… _they can’t be trusted!”_

 _“You_ drove your father to his death!” Matsuda shouts. “And now you’re trying to change the subject by telling me that he was made a fool of…”

“I’m telling you to kill them so his death wasn’t in vain! Can’t you understand that?! Don’t you want to get revenge on the person who killed him?!”

His hands are still moving, moving over the paper--“He’s using his blood!”

And Matsuda fires again, again, again. “I have to kill him. _He has to die!”_

“Stop it, Matsuda!”

“Don’t do it!”

_“Matsuda!”_

They pull him away just in time, and his final shot hits right next to Kira’s head.

“Mikami,” Kira begs, “what are you doing?! Help me! Write their names down! Kill them! Kill them… that’s your job… what are you doing?!”

“How could I write their names down… in a situation like this… with a fake notebook…” Mikami’s eyes are wide and almost unseeing, his voice shaking, until he finally screams in a horrible voice, _“You’re not God!”_ He gasps for breath, staring at Kira with an expression of intense disgust. “What the hell is this? Look what you’ve gotten me into! You’re not God, you’re just… scum.”

“That’s right. He’s not God and he never has been.” Mello’s own voice is filled with disdain, contempt for the pathetic, cringing figure on the floor. “It’s like you said, Near. If you can’t win the game…”

“If you can’t solve the puzzle…”

“Then you’re just--”

_“A loser.”_

“Stop it!” Kira shrieks, trying to crawl away. “Don’t come near me! Misa… Where’s Misa? Misa, kill them! Kill them!”

“Misa Amane is at the Teito Hotel right now,” Near informs coldly.

“Hotel?! What is that idiot doing at a time like this… Takada… where’s Takada? Kill them… write their names down…”

“Kiyomi Takada is dead, remember? You killed her,” Mello responds, folding his arms.

“Dead?! I--Somebody, anybody--somebody… kill them…” He’s whimpering now, begging pitifully.

“It’s finally over,” Mello says softly, and Near nods.

“Yes.”

But while Kira’s reign may have come to an end, his attempt to stay alive hasn’t.

“Light, it’s over. If you don’t give up, you’re going to bleed to death,” Aizawa warns, but Kira isn’t listening.

“Don’t come near me,” he gasps, still trying to crawl. “Someone… kill them…” His eyes fixate on Ryuk, and Mello wants to laugh. Does he actually think he’ll get help from there? Even within this short time, Ryuk’s made it very clear that he doesn’t care about Light at all. But still… “Ryuk! I know… Ryuk, you can write the names down… write their names down into your notebook… Write it, hurry!”

“Don’t do it--”

“Oh, just stop,” Mello sighs. “If Ryuk was willing to kill people on command, he’d have done it a long time ago.”

“Ryuk, you’re all I have left… please… write it down…”

“Sure,” Ryuk responds idly, and grins, lifting a twisted pen. “I’ll write it.”

“Stop it!” Several people are firing, but the bullets just pass through Ryuk, and he keeps writing.

“Sorry. I’m a shinigami, so you can’t kill me with those things. And you can’t touch my notebook unless I allow it.”

Kira’s laughing hysterically. “It’s too late!” he screams, sounding utterly delighted. “Now that Ryuk’s decided to write your names down, you’re all going to die!”

“...No, Light,” Ryuk replies, and his smile grows right along with Mello’s. “The one who’s going to die is you.”

“What?!” He’s flailing about again, trying to get to his feet. “Ryuk, you… you… stop it!” He lunges, but simply falls through the shinigami, landing hard on the ground and gasping for breath. 

“No matter how I look at it, you’ve lost, Light. I was kind of expecting to see you get out of this one, but if _I’m_ your last resort… well, you’ve eased my boredom for quite a long time, haven’t you? ...It’s been fun.”

He turns his notebook around, and it’s quite clear to all of them what name he’s written in it.

_Light Yagami_

“A-Am I going to die?” He sounds… scared. Pitiful. _L probably met his death with more dignity than you’ll ever have._ “I’m going to die…”

“That’s right. In forty seconds, you’ll have a heart attack. It’s already been decided on.”

“I… I’m going to die,” he whimpers. “No… No… I don’t want to die…”

“Neither did L, but you killed him anyway,” Mello snaps. “This is just the justice you claim to love. Can’t you at least _try_ to be a little less pathetic?”

_“Stop it! I don’t want to die!”_

“I told you from the very beginning that I’d be the one writing your name in the notebook when you die. That’s the rule between the shinigami who brings the notebook into the human world, and the human who picks it up… if they put you in prison, who knows when you’ll die? I don’t want to sit around waiting for you to die, so it’s over. You should die right here.”

 _“No! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to go to prison either_ \--do something! I know there’s a way out of it! _Ryuk!”_

“Once a name is written down in the Death Note, you can’t do anything about it. You, more than anybody else here, should know that.”

Is it Mello’s imagination, or does Ryuk sound… entertained? Even now…

“Goodbye, Light Yagami.”

_“No! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to go!”_

_38… 39… 40._

He stiffens, his eyes going wide in horror and pain, and he falls, still trying to reach out for help.

That’s it, then…

Light Yagami… _Kira…_ is dead.

But he still steps forward and draws his gun, still aims directly between Kira’s eyes, still fires.

The others flinch at the sound of the shot.

“Why the hell did you do that?” someone demands, he doesn’t care who. “He was already--”

“I had to make certain,” he says flatly, and meets Near’s eyes.

“Are you satisfied, Mello?”

“Yes.”

They both know what the words really mean.

He puts his gun away, brushing a few strands of hair back with his other hand, and sighs. The Kira case is officially over, then. So, now…

“What about him?” Aizawa finally asks, gesturing towards Mello. “He’s a criminal, too. What are we going to do with him?”

“It certainly wouldn’t be prudent to leave Mello running free,” Near responds. “Leave everything to me, Mr. Aizawa. I’ll make sure he receives exactly what he deserves.” Still, when he looks back, there’s a barely-noticeable gleam in his eyes, and Mello knows that he’s not likely to be seeing the inside of a cell any time soon.

Maybe Roger was right, on that horrible December day… 

Maybe the two of them working together was the best option after all.

Near stands up slowly, looking almost out of place as he does, and with the SPK in front of him, leaves the warehouse.

Mello looks back at Kira’s body, and then turns away for the last time. 

And as he steps outside, he turns to Near, instead.

“Do you hear them?”

“Yes,” Near says softly. “They sound… different. Brighter.”

“Yeah.” He pauses for a moment. “Do you think he’s proud?”

“Does it matter?”

“...I guess not.” The breeze is cold and crisp, and he pulls his coat a little tighter around him. “So, Near… about the title of L…”

“Has Mello reconsidered?” Maybe he’s imagining it, but it almost sounds like there’s a note of hope in Near’s voice.

“...Yeah. Yeah, I have.”

It seems like there’s a hint of a smile on his face.

“I look forward to working with you, Mello.”

Although he tries, Mello can’t keep himself from smiling back. He pulls a bar of chocolate out of his coat, unwraps it, and snaps a piece off.

“All right then, Near. Let’s get to work.”


End file.
